Whilst your own bottom drawer will likely contain some kind of pants and socks medley, back in the day it was the place for an unwed woman to keep valuables in preparation for her marriage.

As tradition changed, it became customary for wedding guests to buy the bride and groom something useful as a gift for their wedding, although the term ‘useful’ is open to interpretation. There are plenty of married couples who still have wedding gifts gathering dust in their loft, 30 years after their big day.

Once couples started writing their own wedding gift lists, it gave guests a better chance of buying something that would be worthy of a 19th century lady’s bottom drawer.

Department stores, like John Lewis, started giving couples the chance to write a wedding gift list exclusively with that shop. You make your wedding list online, and then your guests can visit your list and choose which present they want to give you.

The only drawback is that you are limited to gifts from that particular store, but with an independent wedding list website you can choose from different online shops and make a list of all your ideal gifts.

Marriage Gift List lets you create a list using loads of online stores, using the big high street names, as well as smaller, niche retailers. Your guests can login separately to see your list, and follow links to buy the gift of their choice.

You still get the surprise, because you can’t see the details of each guest’s choice, and the fact that the site is free to register is a nice bonus. It’s easy to use, looks good and the Gift List Invitation cards are a nice touch for the guests.

Marriage Gift List has become one of the leading choices for making wedding gift lists online, and it’s a guaranteed way to make sure you get that perfect pile of presents.